SAINT DENIS: Toulouse hammered holders Nantes 5-1 in Coupe de France final after scoring four first-half goals at the Stade de France to secure the club’s first major trophy on Saturday.

Defender Logan Costa and striker Thijs Dallinga both netted twice inside the opening 31 minutes, with forward Zakaria Aboukhlal adding a fifth in the second half.

“It’s an iconic competition in this country and we’re proud. We’ve done it, we’ve gone down in club history,” said Costa.Toulouse’s only previous trophies came from winning Ligue 2 on three occasions, the last time in 2021-22.

The French Cup triumph also secured Toulouse a place in the Europa League, their first European competition since 2009-10.

Toulouse went ahead in the fourth minute through Costa and he doubled their lead six minutes later with another header.

Toulouse, beaten 3-1 by Nantes in their only league clash so far this season, were soon three goals in front after Gabriel Suazo teed up Dallinga by supplying a stunning cross into the box for the Dutchman to score with a chipped finish.

Dallinga then made it 4-0 just after the half-hour mark when he netted from close range from a rebound.

Nantes made three halftime changes, introducing forwards Andy Delort and Ignatius Ganago with midfielder Samuel Moutoussamy.

They managed to pull a goal back with a penalty as midfielder Ludovic Blas fired into the roof of the net 15 minutes from time but Toulouse’s Aboukhlal wrapped up a one-sided victory by smashing home their fifth from distance.

Nantes had a fine run to the final having beaten Lens 2-1 in the quarter-finals and Olympique Lyonnais 1-0 in the semis.

Toulouse, 12th in the French top tier, beat Ligue 2 sides Rodez and Annecy in the quarters and last four respectively.

Published in Dawn, May 1st, 2023